Completed PhD Projects

Profile

Since 2014, Franziska Brüggmann has been a PhD candidate at the Chair of Art Theory and Curating. She is also a curator and exhibition manager for international art exhibitions at a non-profit in Basel and is currently involved in exhibitions on Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and museum architecture. Previously, she worked as an art mediator and exhibition coordinator. She completed her studies in curating, art theory, art education and philosophy at the universities of Zurich, Barcelona and Hildesheim. In her PhD project, she focuses on the interconnection between Institutional Critique, critical curating and the current structure of the institutional landscape in the art field.

Dissertation project

The exhibition as critique of the exhibition. Or: What remains of Institutional Critique? A systematic overview of the institutionally critical discourse

After nearly 50 years of institutionally critical practices – practices, which have set out to reflect and criticise the conditions, structures and functions of exhibitions and art spaces – it seems about time to take stock. The central research question of this project is thus as follows: What are the consequences and results of the history and strategies of Institutional Critique for museums, art spaces and their current exhibition practice?

The aim and aspiration of the thesis are to systematically review the development of Institutional Critique and its consequences for contemporary art institutions, exhibition formats and critical curating. It is important to investigate which propositions of the institutionally critical artists and curators have been realised, what has changed in the work of the art museums and spaces as well as to explore what has become of relevant actors and institutions.
In addition to an analysis of the discourse on Institutional Critique, this subject on hand will be further examined via selected case studies on important exhibitions, institutions and actors of Institutional Critique.